I want a dog!

K-Gr 2-Lisa loves dogs and asks "twenty-one times a day" for a pet of her own. Despite the pleas, her parents respond: "Our apartment is too small for a dog." She tries different methods of persuasion, but neither being "good as gold" nor "truly terrible" changes the verdict. Deciding to take matters into her own hands, she posts a sign in the park: "Wanted Dog to Borrow." Soon an elderly man hires Lisa to walk his dachshund. Muted watercolor illustrations show the red-haired girl playing with Rollo while her wooden toy Dalmatian sits on a nearby bench awaiting her return. A satisfying lesson in compromise.-Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A little girl named Lisa longs for a dog of her own. Lisa's parents have many solid reasons why a dog won't fit into their family life, mainly because their apartment is too small for a dog, and they kindly but firmly reject every one of her arguments. Lisa tries to change their minds through her behavior, both good and bad, but her parents won't budge. Finally Lisa decides to take care of things by putting up signs in a nearby park asking for a dog to borrow. An elderly neighbor immediately brings his dog to Lisa so she can walk little Rollo the dachshund and play with him, and this satisfies her longing in an entirely too-pat ending, given the playful lead-up. The illustrations have a surrealistic, dreamy quality with distorted proportions and muted tones, but Lisa has her own quirky appeal with her flaming carrot-orange hair topped by a newspaper-print bow. The way Lisa solves her problem in a creative and socially acceptable way is laudable, but readers will still wish she'd gotten the dog. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.